Wire take-off device



Nov. 28, 1961 Filed Sept. 7, 1955 w. L. DULL ETAL 3,010,674

WIRE TAKE-OFF DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS William Lee Dull lawnwce61 577771511752 WE/2W4,

4 TTORNEY Nov. 28, 1961 w. 1... DULL ETAL I 3,010,674

WIRE TAKE-OFF DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 7, 1955 m+ mm M 0 Ymm; W C fie Mme a aw H mm A Z Wm.

United States Patent 3,010,674 WIRE TAKE-OFF DEVICE William Lee Dull,Houston, Tex., and Lawrence C. Elmburg, Jackson, Miss, assignors toArrnco Steel Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 7, 1955,Ser. No. 532,997 1 Claim. (Cl. 242-1228) Our invention relates to a wiretake-off device, and more particularly to a device for taking wire, thatis in coils, ofi a rack, such as a shipping rack, on which said coilsare mounted in stacked relation, in such a manner that the wire isremoved from the coil while mounted on the rack in a smooth andefiicient manner and directed to the point of use.

More particularly our invention comprises a take-off device for the wirethat is on a rack in the form of axially adjacent coils, comprising aguide tube that is mounted for rotation at its upper end on a suitablesupport and has an offset therein so that the lower end thereof rotatesin a circle of slightly larger radius than that of the coils of wire onthe rack as the wire is drawn through the same and off to the point ofuse, due to the swivel mounting thereof at its upper end, and a guidemember mounted on the rack for the coils of wire that extends upwardlytherefrom and has an annular guide wall that is of lesser diameter thanthe circular path of the lower end of the guide tube and substantiallyco-axial with said path.

More specifically our invention comprises in combination with a rack forwire coils, a stationary support for the rack and means on said supportfor mounting a guide tube above the rack swivelly, so that the upper endof the guide tube is in vertically spaced relation to the rack, saidguide tube being immediately below a sheave over which the wire passesto the point of use, means being provided concentrically with thepivotal axis of the guide tube for guiding the wire from the upper endof the guide tube to the sheave, and a cylindrical guide memher that isdetachably mounted on the rack and extends down within the upper coilsof wire mounted on the rack, and projects upwardly above said wire coilsand above the upper end of sad rack, so that the guide tube will rotatearound said cylindrical guide member as the wire is drawn through thesame, the lower end of said guide tube being laterally spaced from thecylindrical guide member and extending an appreciable distance below theupper end of said cylindrical guide member.

It is a further purpose of our invention to provide, in a device of theabove mentioned character, a cylindrical guide member that is soconstructed and arranged as to be readily detachably mounted on the rackfor the coils of wire, said rack comprising a skeleton frame havingintersecting transverse members that are receivable in slots extendingupwardly from the lower end of the cylindrical guide member todetachably mount said cylindrical guide member on said rack.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will appear as thedescription of the drawings proceeds. We desire to have it understood,however, that we do not intend to limit ourselves to the particulardetails shown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of our improved takeoff device as usedin conjunction with a rack having coils of wire thereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the rack and the cylindricalguide member, showing the mounting thereof on the rack.

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional I 3,010,674Patented Nov. 28, 1961 ice View through the swivel mounting for theguide tube and the wire guide leading to the sheave.

Referring in detail to the drawings, our improved takeoff device isparticularly adapted for taking cit wire mounted in coils in stackedrelation on a rack such as disclosed in the application of William LeeDull, Serial No. 493,253, filed March 9, 1955, now Patent No. 2,916,-152, for Shipping Rack for Wire Coils. Said rack is provided with askeleton framework that is mounted in fixed position on a base member orpallet of wood 5. Mounted on said base member is a pair of bent rodsproviding parallel legs 6 that have outwardly directed foot portion 7thereon that are secured in a suitable manner on the base 5. Said rodshave transversely extending portions 8 and 8' that are rigidly connectedtogether at their intersections, the transversely extending portion 8being offset as at 9 to place the main body portions of the members 8'and 8 in the same plane. Other transversely extending bracing members,also made of rod, such as the members 10, are provided at predeterminedlocations along said legs to connect and brace the same, said members 10being fixed to said legs 6 and to each other at their intersection.Mounted on the rack in axial adjacency are the coils of wire 11 (seeFIG. 1).

A cylindrical guide member 12 is detachably mounted on the skeletonframe of the rack for the coils of wire in the manner illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3. The cylindrical body portion 12 is open at its upper andlower ends and extending upwardly from the open lower end thereof apredetermined distance are the slots-13, there being four of said slotsfor accommodating the cross members 8 and 8' and the cross members 10,as will be obvious from FIGS. 2 and 3. Said slots are of such lengththat the cylindrical guide member 12 can be passed down over the crossmembers or braces 10 with the lower marginal edge 14 of said cylindricalguide member located slightly below said members 10. This will providesuch engagement between the members 10, 8, 8 and the walls of the slots13 that the cylindrical guide member 12 will be held firmly inupstanding position on the skeletonized rack for the coils of wire 11.

The take-off device further comprises a platform 15, which constitutes astationary support for the rack, the base 5 thereof being mounted onsaid platform 15. Extending upwardly from the platform 15 is a standard16, which has a transversely extending arm 17, which is provided with aflange 18, to which is bolted the sheave mounting member 19, said member19 being provided with suitable hearings for a sheave 29. The lower endof the member 19 is formed into a wire guide 21 of a tubular character,which has a reduced lower end portion 22 around which a -U-bolt 23extends. The U-bolt 23 is provided with nuts 25' for clamping a plate 24to the reduced portion 22 and thus to the one wall of the mountingmember '19. The plate 24 has a pair of rubber bearing blocks 26 mountedthereon, in which ball bearings 27 are mounted, the inner sleeves 28 ofsaid ball bearings having flanged cup-like collars 29 mounted thereonthat are fixed to the guide tube 30 by means of set screws 31.

While bearings of a particular character are shown in FIG. 4 forswivelly mounting the guide tube 30, the particular structure thereof isnot absolutely necessary to the invention, the important feature of themounting of the guide tube 30 is that it is mounted at its upper end foran easy swivelling movement about the axis of the reduced lower endportion 22 of the wire guide 21 leading to the sheave 20. The guide tube30 is provided with an S-curve 31 therein so as to offset the lower endportion 32 thereof from the upper swivelled end portion thereof, withthe result that the lower end portion 32 of said guide O tube, when saidtube is turning on the axis of its upper swivel mounting, is rotating ina path that is of a diameter greater than the diameter of thecylindrical guide member 12, so that the lower end 32 of said tubularmember will always be spacedlaterally from the cylindrical side face ofthe guide member 12 as it rotates during take-off of wire from the rack.

In operation, the wire 33 that is to be taken ofl is passed through theguide tube 30, up through the upper swivelled end thereof into the Wireguide 22, over the sheave 20 and to a point of use thereof, which,according to the illustration of FIG. 1, is to the right of the sheaveat a distance beyond the limits of the drawing. As the wire 36- ispulled toward the right as it is being used itwill pass upwardly throughthe guide member 21, rotating the sheave 20 clockwise, as viewed in FIG.1, and said wire will be pulled upwardly through the guide tube 30feeding into the lower end 32 thereof and causing said lower end,(assuming that the wire in the coils 11 is wound as shown in FIG. 1) totravel clockwise (looking downwardly on the apparatus) around thecylindrical guide member 12. The cylindrical guide member 12 will beengaged by the wire 33 as it travels upwardly from the coil 11 and intothe end 32 of the guide 30 and thus said cylindrical guide member '12will assure the smooth and orderly removal of the wire from the coils 11without any kinking or tangling thereof and aid in the smooth operationof the guide tube 30 in its rotative movements'caused by the pull on thewire 33. The wire from each of the succeeding coils 11 below the uppercoil is similarly threaded through the guide tube 30, the wire guide 21and over the sheave 20 when it is desired to take it off the rack andfeed it to suitable apparatus atthe point of use. When all the wire on arack has been taken oil in this manner, the cylindrical guide member 12is removed from the rack, the empty rack removed fromrthe platform 15,another rack filled with coils of wire 11 is placed on the platform 15and the guide member 12 is placed in position on said filled rack asshown in FIG. 1.

What we claim is:

The combination with a stationary rack for wire coils, of a cylindricalguide member extending upwardly from the upper end of said rack, a guidetube, a sheave,

" means above said rack for mounting the upper end of said guide tube toswivel about a fixed axis and for mounting said sheave above the upperend of said guide tube, said means being in vertically spaced relationto the upper end of said cylindrical guide member, and a wire guide onsaid means concentric with said axis between said sheave and the upperend of said guide tube, said guide tube extending downwardly from saidmounting means to dispose the lower end thereof below the upper end ofsaid cylindrical guide member and above the upper end of said rack, saidguide tube being offset to laterally space said lower end from saidcylindrical guide member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,830,449 Swank Nov. 3, 1931 2,188,358 Kilrner Jan. 30, 1940 2,286,460Brown June 16, 1942 2,319,828 Rohweder May 25, 1943 2,322,607 Wald June22, 1943 2,349,689 Aldrich May 23, 1944 2,372,730 Morgan Apr. 3, 19452,390,158 Kramer Dec. 4, '1945 2,441,639 Larner May 18, 1948 2,673,046Lewis Mar. 23, 1954 2,784,921 Washabaugh Mar. 12, 1957

